The
Romanesque Revival structure, designed by
Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz, opened in 1885 at a cost of $400 to $500 thousand (equivalent to $ to $ million in ). The three-story building's exterior walls and twelve-story
clock tower were composed of pink granite and red pressed brick topped by a number of steeply pitched roofs. Modifications to the structure following a fire in 1922 included eliminating the original pitched roof profile. Behind the
head house were the train
platforms, shielded by a large
train shed. Inside the station were
ticket counters, waiting rooms, and
Fred Harvey Company restaurants.
Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) chose to consolidate its Chicago operations at the
Union Station. The final intercity passenger train to depart Dearborn Station was the
Grand Trunk Western Railroad's
International Limited, which departed on April 30, 1971. The arrival of the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's
San Francisco Chief and
Grand Canyon from
California on May 2 brought intercity operations at Dearborn to a close. The
Norfolk & Western Railway's
Orland Park commuter service, the
Orland Park Cannonball, continued to use a platform at Dearborn until 1976. By 1976, Dearborn Station's
train shed was demolished and tracks were removed; the
head house building was retained. The train station stood abandoned into the mid-1980s when it was converted to retail and office space. The former
rail yards were converted for use as
Dearborn Park. ==Services==